The assistant superintendent of secondary schools for the El Paso Independent School District abandoned his fight to keep his job so he could focus on his family and his own education, his attorney said Wednesday.

The EPISD school board voted late Tuesday to instruct interim Superintendent Vernon Butler to accept Anderson's resignation offer, which had been submitted Friday. The board in January began the process of firing Anderson because of his alleged role in the district cheating scandal, and he was appealing that action to the Texas Education Agency until suddenly abandoning the fight with his resignation offer.

REPORTER

Alex Hinojosa

"Mr. Anderson has decided at this time to focus all of his energy and resources on his family and the pursuit of his doctoral degree instead of pursuing his administrative appeal to TEA," lawyer Lynn Coyle said in a written statement to the El Paso Times. "He is a person of faith and has confidence that in an objective forum, the truth will show that his dismissal from EPISD was improper and that he has always conducted himself ethically, consistent with all law and policies and in the best interest of students."

Coyle declined to comment further.

His resignation proposal that was accepted by the board calls for him to remain on administrative leave with pay until June 30, when the resignation becomes effective. The district also agreed to provide a "neutral job reference" in accordance with district policy.

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District officials said there was no monetary settlement.

Anderson was among a number of district employees identified in an external audit by the Fort Worth-based Weaver firm, released last week, as possibly being involved in the district's cheating scheme.

However, virtually all of the audit information about Anderson had already been discussed at the January school board meeting, where the board decided to begin the process of firing him.

He has long maintained he did nothing wrong and tried to notify the Texas Education Agency of problems at Bowie High School, the epicenter of the cheating scheme, only to be rebuffed. In a statement to the Times last week, he criticized the Weaver audit, which the board used as its basis for removing him from the job he'd held since 2010.

"With respect to the events described in this report to which I have personal knowledge, I can confidently state that the document reflects half-truths, misinformation, and a profound lack of understanding in school law and policy," Anderson said in a written statement to the El Paso Times about the audit's initial release. "Fair and unbiased scrutiny of my actions will demonstrate that I have acted ethically and consistently with education standards on all levels."

His resignation offer came four days later.

The audit said the widespread cheating continued in the EPISD after former Superintendent Lorenzo García was arrested on unrelated charges in August 2011, and that many high schools became "diploma mills."

The Weaver report, which was released April 1, criticized Anderson for delaying implementation of many of the 21 actions outlined in a plan that arose from an internal district audit which revealed serious problems in 77 Bowie High School students' transcripts.

It also said Anderson was aware that García was keeping the audit in draft form so it couldn't be discovered in an open records request.

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